Also if u were to watch this weeks episode and not be extremely disappointed, i would be amazed, considering your reviews of enterprise, and how it often fobbed us off with ridiculous storylines, and episode conclusions.

However the candidate, it was a good episode, thrilling conclusion, but that posturing was there again, and sawyers constant disregard for anything Jack says given all he has seen on the island is a bit silly, sorry doc, weve travelled through time, fought giant pillars of smoke, but i wont believe you when u say we arent going to die.

Compare season 1 to season 5, Season 1 wins out every time

I agree with Vincent that the show has really been pretty fantastic since about half-way through the third season. I don’t get why people keep bringing up the fifth season as being flawed, I thought it was awesome. Everything from the time travel to the thrilling conclusion was just a blast.

I guess to each their own though. Lost really has something for everyone.

Many people complain about the lack of answers over the course of the series. What you have to realize is that the series has been an 80-some hour single story. Sure there have been arcs, but the nature of the series has been one continuous story. And this last season, especially in the later half, has been steeped in answers. Sure, I don’t expect every question to be answered, but what we have had so far has been great.

Between this, Ab Aeterno and Dr. Linus, the writers really managed to deliver a season’s truckload of worthy payoffs.

It’s abundantly clear now that tragedy is the only possible outcome in the island timeline. Everything is shifting towards a tragic conclusion. Frank’s fate is unknown. Sayid, Sun and Jin are gone, and Kate’s bleeding to death. Now this is how i would end a show if i were the showrunner! No happy endings.

Elizabeth Sarnoff, writer of this particular episode, and executive producer of Lost, has an extensive track record for murdering main characters on her scripts. The list goes as follows: Shannon , Ana Lucia, Libby, Roger Linus, Horace, Karl, Danielle Rousseau, Sayid, Jin and Sun (and possibly Lapidus).

It’s amazing how well the alternating storylines run together. Both timelines did a valiant job competing for my attention. Both were a delight to watch. I actually felt sorry for Locke and Anthony Cooper (one little issue: Cooper apparently still conned Sawyer’s family despite having a good relationship with John). And seeing Helen Norwood is always a treat.

One minor gripe though in the form of Alan Dale. The man has no range whatsoever as an actor. He’s so used to Widmore-esque roles in numerous shows and films, that his voice breaks every time the role requires a more dynamic approach for his character.

There’s not much that can be said about the death of everyone’s favorite korean couple. Jack Bender is a masterful director when it comes to manipulating the audience’s emotions as are those two actors.

This episode was all action and payoff, but no resolution or mysteries solved. I’m biting my fingernails until next week. I just hope Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse deliver on whatever’s coming next.

I mean, big mysteries are about to be solved (we hope) after so many years, and yet… even the submarine blowing up and several characters getting killed didn’t have too much of an impact for me. In other words, I’ve been impressed by this show more successfully in the past. I’m not sure Lost still retains the ability to impress me, after sooo many episodes of what you mention (“do this but I won’t tell you why”).

I DO enjoy the series, that’s why I keep watching it (the “Dr.Linus” episode from this season was the best of the series in a LOOONG time for me, i.e) but… well, I hope they still have some exciting (and logical) surprises up their sleeves. They’ve trained us to demand that, somehow.

The first season was the best television I have ever seen, with images and story lines that I still think about–with “The Moth” still being one of the best episodes of any series ever– but since then, they have been steadily going downhill. I stuck with it so long because i thought MAYBE they might come back to what made the first season so wonderful. But no. The ridiculous adding of new characters (all of whom have a mystery or secret knowledge), the unexplained stuff, the jumping through time and dimension (which throws any attempt at reality out the window) — all of these have added up to an expensive piece of crap. But this show pretty much lost me completely after Season 2.

I’m vaguely curious about how they are going to end, but I know one thing–it won’t be satisfying, so I am heading into it expecting to be disappointed.

I have really enjoying the transformation of Jack from ‘man of science’ to ‘man of faith.’ I also like that Sawyer seems to be at his most cunning and distrustful, but still manages to get conned.

Remaining spoiler free is a must for enjoying show.

That being said, I recognize the need to up the ante as the show winds down. There is simply not enough time to give all the characters their due, I’m afraid. The last few seasons Sun and Jin had pretty much been relegated to “I’ve got to find Sun/Jin!” Once they were reunited, their storyline was, for better or worse, pretty much concluded. I never bought that either of them could be “The Candidate.” Sayid pretty much had to die, given his story turn this season. I’m glad he did so in an act of redemption.

I think you are being too hard on Jacob. He is, in my opinion, pretty obviously a metaphor for the Judeo-Christian God, whatever his in-story origins turn out to be. He is sort of generically benevolent and kindly but distant. Not above tweaking people’s lives to impact his own inscrutable ends. He seems genuinely sorry when his influence result in pain for those people. He is also unwilling to be the Deux ex machina in these peoples lives, fulfilling at least a certain view of a God that “helps people who help themselves.”

Jacob and Smokey as God and Satan seem fairly cut and dry (not literally in-show, but metaphorically) to me. One works mysteriously towards inscrutable but seemingly benevolent ends, yet does not go out of his way to help no matter his power, preferring to let the castaways find their own paths. The other works for similarly inscrutable but clearly malevolent ends, and contrary to Jacob’s hands-off style, Smokey interferes with/influences/corrupts whoever will lend him an ear.

Anyone notice we haven’t seen Jacob’s ghost on the scene since Desmond had his “religious” experience in the EM chamber? While I strongly believe Jack will end up replacing Jacob, it does beg the question of some sort of link between the spirit of Jacob and Desmond’s newfound enlightenment.

Smokey is a real bastard then! But it was definately coming. There has been so much death throughout the history of Lost to not expect it really. It tends to be abrupt, shocking, and also tends to further the story. The loss of these four characters is sure to piss off our remaining Losties and push them towards whatever the ultimate endgame will be.

I’ve tried my best to remain spoiler-free throughout the show’s run, and this has been very successful, give or take the odd fail. Lost is a show that endears itself to the spoiler-free as half of the fun is not knowing what the hell has been going on. I’m going to miss the show when it finishes.